Edwin sheppard



YEDWIN SHEPPARD," or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Lettere Patent No. 82,357, dated September 22, -1868.

AUTOMATIC BOILER-IBEDER.

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TO ALL WIIOM I'l MAY CONCERN: d

Bc it known that I, EDWIN SHEPPARD, of Philadelphia., Pennsylvania, haveinvented an improved Automatic Boiler-Feeder; and Ido hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the same.

.My invention consists otiafcer'tain arrangement of cylinders or casingsapplied to a steam-boiler, and communicating with each other, and withthe interior ot' the said boiler, as fully described hereafter, the saidcylinders being provided with suitable pistons, floats, and piston-rods,so connected with the 'valve-lever of a water-pipe as toV regulate thesupply of water to the boiler, and maintain an even and properwater-level within the same. I A

In order to enable others familiar with apparatus ot' this class to makeand use my invention, -I will now proceed to describe its constructionand operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, whichforms a part of this specification, and in which Y I Figure 1 is avertical section. of my improved automatic boiler-feeder.

Figure 2, the same, with the parts in a different position.

Figure 3, -a vertical section on the line 1-2, fig. 1, showing thc partsof the apparatus in a third position.

Figure 4, a detached view drawn to an enlarged scale; and

Figures 5, 6, and 7, views representing modiiications of my invention.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A represents a portion of the head of a steam-boiler, to the front ofwhich is secured, iu'any suitable manner, a cylinder or casing, B, whichcommunicates with the interior of the boiler at two points, above andbelow the average water-line x, by means of pipes a a', fig. 3. Thewater within the'boiler has at all times free access to the interior ofthe cylinder through the pipe a, and the steam through the pipe a', sothat the same waterlevel is necessarily maintained in both boiler andcylinder, and in thefront of the latter are the usual gaugecocks b Z)Z1, vby 'which the height of the water may at any time be determined. A

The lower end of the cylinder B' is closed, und to its upper flanged endis bolted a head, c, having a stuffingbox, c', through which is arrangedto slide vertically a tubular rod, C, the latter ibeing secured vnearits lower end to a. float, D ,within the cylinder by means of arms e. Io

The iloat D consists ofa vessel of thin metal, open at the top, andarranged to risc and fall with the water in the cylinder, being guidedand maintained in a proper vertical position hy the tube C, and by arod,f, which passes through an opening ima crossba1',f, and the lower.open end of the tubular rod C extends into a'well l or reservoir, fj,formed in the bottom of the Hout, for a purpose described hereafter.

Directly over the cylinder B', and secured to thesame by supports orlegs t, is a smaller cylinder, F, open at each end, as shown in lig. 4,and arranged for the reception of two pistons, z' and i", one above t-heother, and secured to thc tubular rod C, the latter being closed at thetop, and having, between its pistons t' and i', openings j, frein which,under the circumstances described hereafter, steam may pass through the'cylinder F into a pipe, k, and thence to a third cylinder, G, which maybe secured directly to the head of the boiler, or to one of the othercylinders, and is provided at'its lower end with a detachable head andstuffing-box Z.

Within this cylinder is a piston, m', the rod, m, of which passesthro-ugh the stuliing-box Z, and through an opening', r1., in the upperend of tho cylinder, the said opening being of somewhat greater diameterthan the rod, for a-pur'posc describedhereafter.

, 'lhe piston-rod m is connected byu) rod,p, to a weighted lever, H,which iscennected to a valve of suitable construction in the feed-waterpipe J.

Whatever may bc the water-level, andthe position of the iloat in thecylinder B, the steam contained in` the upper portion of' the latterwill pass to the bottom of the float, enter the lower open end of thetubular rod C, and will rise through thc rod, and pass out at itsopcningsj into the cylinder F, between the pistons t' and i.

l when thcwatcr, therefore, is at the proper level in thcboilcr,(indicated by the red line a; x,) the float, its

tubular rod C, and the pistons i and t", will assume the position -shownin iig. l. The steam, entering the cylinder F between 'its pistons` willpass through the pipe c, and elevate the piston m' to the upper end ofthe cylinder G, and the air confined in the latter, above the piston,will b e forced in small quantities through the opening n, and willserve as a cushion to prevent the piston from being too suddenlyelevated by the action of the steam beneath it.

When the piston m is thus elevated in its cylinder, the weighted levenHis, through the medium of the :od p, raised to the position shown infig. I, when the valve within the feed-water pipe J is so operated as'toallow a proper supply of water to pass thrnhgh the said pipe to theboiler.

If the water within the boiler should rise to a point above its 'properlevel :v x, for instance, ito theheight `represented by the line y, fig.2, there will be a corresponding elevation of the float and its tubularrod, the

pistons z' and z being moved to a position above the pipe k, so that thesteam within the cylinder G can le'turn through the pipe into thecylinder F, and escape from the lower end ofthe same.

As soon as the pressure of steam is removed from beneath the piston m',the latter will, together with the weighted lever H, fall to theposition shown in fig. 2, \\'henthe valve within the pipe J will beclosed, andthe supply of water eut oil` from the boiler,

'lhe valve will remain thus closed until the water within the boilerfalls suiiicientlyl to permit the piston i to assume its first positionbeneath thepipe 7:, steam then passing nto'the cylinder Gr, elevatingits piston m', and operating the valve-lever H, as before described, soas to again turn on the supply of water to the boiler.

If, by any accident, the water lshould fall in the boiler to a pointconsiderably below the line :1; x, the float D will also descend untilit rests upon the cross-barf, which, as shown in iig. 3, prevents thepiston from descending below the pipe l2, and serves to hold the pistonc" at a point so close to the bottom of the cylinder F that the steam,escaping between the latter and the said piston, will cause suiiicientof an alarm to call the attendant to his duty, if he be withinhearing-distance. Y Y I The recess g, at the bottom of the oat, intowhich the lower end ofk the tubular rod C enters, serves as aA reservoirfor any steam that may become condensed within the said float, the waterin the reservoir being forced upwards through the rod C by the pressureof steam, and discharged from -the openings j. l

In the modiiication of my invention, shown in tig. 5, the piston orBoat-rod C is solid, steam being admitted i-nto the cylinder F through apipe, s, from the cylinder B; and another modification, by which theapparatus may be simplified and made more compact, is shown in figs. 6and 7;

In the latter case the cylinders F and G are cast together in one piece,as shown best in fig. 7, and are secured at some convenient point abovethe boiler, the cylinder B being dispensed with, while the rod passesthrough the top of the boiler, and its oat, D, rests directly upon thesurface ofthe water within the same.

In this case also steam may be admitted'into the cylinder G at one ofthe two points t and t', either above or below its piston, accordingr tothe positions of the pistons and z", the port t serving as anexhaust-port when steam is admitted through the port t, and vice versa.By this means the piston m is both raised and lowered by the action ofthe steam, and the weight at the outer end of the valve-lever H may bedispensed with. i

The above 'apparatus is entirely automatic in its action, and willmaintain the water within the boiler at a uniform or nearly uniformlevel.

Without contning myself to the precise arrangement and construction ofparts herein described, I claim as my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent- An automatic boiler-feeder, consisting of a cylinder, D,with its float D, cylinder F with its pistons z'z" operated by the floatD, and cylinder G with its piston 7n', the cylinder F communicating withthe cylinder Gr, and the cylinder B with the cylinder F, and the wholebeing arranged and applied 'to a steam-boiler, to regulate the flow ofwater to the same, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof', I have signed my name to this specification inthe presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

EDWIN SHEPPARD.

Witnesses:

JOHN WHITE, C. B. PRICE.

